Just two months in to his term, Gov. Larry Hogan has made his charter school bill one of his top priorities, but some parts of the proposal are running into opposition from a number of teachers' unions.

One of the unions commissioned a poll to ascertain what voters are saying about charter schools. The poll, backed by the Maryland chapter of the American Federation of Teachers, is focused on school spending, but the group is also turning its attention toward public charter schools.

The governor's bill proposes more autonomy to hire and fire teachers, exempting teachers from state certification, giving charter schools more control on who attends, giving charter schools more funding per student and allowing charter schools to compete for school construction money.

The majority of Maryland's charter schools operate in Baltimore City. One of those schools, City Neighbors in northeast Baltimore, has a 10-year track record of academic progress. And while school leaders there have been keeping an eye on the politics, they say they're more focused on the results.

"This is about getting results for kids and we need all hands on deck, so, yes, we need to make it so that charter schools can do their best work, and the restrictions of the policies and guidelines, they are too much," said Bobbi Macdonald, executive director of the City Neighbors Foundation.

But the teachers' union said it wanted to find out what voters were saying. Washington, D.C.-based Hart Research Associates polled more than 600 voters in Anne Arundel, Prince George's and Montgomery counties and Baltimore City. They found 43 percent of voters want current charter school rules and regulations to stay in place, 33 percent felt the opposite and would like to see fewer regulations and 24 percent of voters were unsure.

"Our poll tells us that the public is more interested in education funding than they are lowering taxes and that they want oversight over these charter schools, not that they want more but they want oversight over charter schools," Marietta English, vice president of American Federation of Teachers Maryland.

The charter school poll goes on to identify where the majority of support is coming from for more government oversight in the four school systems.

For weeks now, Hogan has made it clear he'll fight to add more teeth in the state's charter school law.

"Let's put aside the rhetoric and the politics," Hogan said.

Leaders at City Neighbors Charter School said instead waiting for an outcome in Annapolis, they'll continue to keep children as their No. 1 priority.

"It's bigger than a poll, and you know, it's important to be focused on what's working, and what's working is a school where people have the power to design and create and implement great public education for Baltimore City children," Macdonald said.

So far, there have been two hearings on the governor's charter school bill. If the legislation becomes law, the new changes would take effect in the fall.